Basildon Upper and Lower Academies are praised by Ofsted and see removal of special measures.

Pupils and staff at the Basildon Lower and Upper Academies are celebrating coming out of special measures. It is a remarkable achievement, over such a short space of time, with Ofsted rating them “Good” for behaviour and safety of pupils and for leadership and management.

The inspectors praised the “highly effective” staff training which has facilitated a rapid improvement in teaching quality and achievement is “rising strongly.”

Director of Teaching and Learning, Louise Sherman said: “We had 12 staff come through the ITP and OTP in that last year and a half. The impact upon the academy has been extremely noticeable, within the classroom and across our CPD programme.

“Adopting OLEVI’s facilitation principles enabled us to take a new reflective approach to improving our teaching and learning practices. We used many of the ITP and OTP philosophies and key elements to drive forward staff training. Staff have a renewed enthusiasm and energy, which transfers to pupils who have become more enagaged in learning.

The sessions on developing deeper thinking through questioning were used by our OTP participants to deliver whole staff twilight sessions, the results of which were evident in lessons and teachers questioning was commended on in our Ofsted report. The ripple effect on lessons, as staff share experiences and good practice, has allowed us to reach our ultimate goal of pupils making progress.”

“Improvements in teaching are well led. Senior leaders regularly check teaching and have an open diagnostic approach so that best practice is shared. Teachers reflect on how they can improve their own performance, and support is tailored to the individual needs of staff.”

Ofsted 2013, The Basildon Lower Academy, Essex